


The Times They Are a Changin'

by sunkelles



Category: Captain Marvel (2019)
Genre: F/F, Getting Together, Marriage, Period Piece, Raising kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-16 09:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18092069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles
Summary: Carol Danvers goes home and spends time with her family and falls in love with her best friend. Sadly, it's still the nineties in Louisiana and they can't exactly put a ring on it.





	The Times They Are a Changin'

**Author's Note:**

> i don't love this. the pacing is weird, i don't know how i feel about the characterization, and i don't love the over all execution. 
> 
> but. i'm tired of looking at it. so please. take it. 
> 
> title and lines are, of course, inspired by bob dylan's the times they are a changin' which will never fails to make me cry. sixties protest music is a transcendent genre which will always appeal to the people trying to make changes for the better

Carol travels the galaxy with Talos and the Skrulls. She helps them find a home, and then she strategizes other ways to help the falaxy and fight against the Kree. Talos isn't impressed.  
  
"Don't you want to go home and relax, Danvers?" he asks. He   
  
"I can relax when I'm dead," Carol says.

"Sure, you can do that, but you can't do that with your family then. You'll just be dead. You really want that?" Carol bites her lip. She hadn't really thought of anything beyond the mission, but he's right. If she travels the galaxy, fighting the Kree at every corner, she might never make it back home. She doesn't like that idea.  
  
"The Kree already stole six years of your life," Talos says, "are you willing to let them take more?" Carol has always wanted to die like a martyr, go up in flames for a glorious cause. She thought that maybe if she fought hard enough, she could fix all the problems in the world. Make people respect her, even though she was a woman. Get herself a spot as a combat pilot, fix the racism that Maria and Monica face, fix the rigged system that keeps people in poverty. 

She can fight and fight and fight all of her life, and maybe not even fix anything. The shitty parts of the earth and the Kree and all their atrocities might still be there, but she'll just be dead.   
  
She thinks about Maria, and she thinks about Monica, looking up at her with that sparkle in her eyes. Carol might die out here, and they'd never even know. Can she do that to them again? Would going up in flames in a faraway land even  _help_ them? Would it help anyone?   
  
"Choosing my family over my cause, isn't that selfish?" She thinks that she'd dreamt of being a martyr even before the Kree got into her head. Maria confirms some of that, but Carol doesn't know how much of that desire is _her._ Sometimes she can't tell where Carol Danvers the human begins and Vers the Kree soldier begins. Why does the idea of seeing her family make her so giddy and so guilty?  
  
"That's exactly what _I'm_ doing, Danvers. Who am I to judge?" Carol bites her lip. She thinks about all the people she could save, and she knows that she should, but she doesn't want to. She wants to go home and lay on the couch with Maria and throw popcorn at Monica and laugh at some shitty sitcom on TV. She doesn't want to go up in flames for a glorious cause.   
  
The woman who was once a soldier decides that she doesn't want to be one anymore, and Carol Danvers flies home.

  
  
Maria and Monica welcome her back with open arms. She moves in, gets a job, and slides right back into their lives. It's exactly what she always wanted. A little peace and quiet with her favorite people in the world.  
  
The world doesn't stay safe, because of course it doesn't. She gets to be with her family, but that doesn't mean she gets that without strings.  
  
She has to put her suit back on, and shoot blasts out of her hands, and fly around the earth to save the planet from one thing. And then another. And then another.   
  
It's a little tiring, but less tiring than trying to take on the whole damn Kree Empire by herself had been. It's a lot less tiring than trying to be anyone's perfect soldier had been too.  
  
This is normal tiring, like the Air Force. Not tiring in spirit the way those endeavors that took her far away from her family had been. This tiring is worth it.  
  
A few months after she starts heroing again, Monica comes to a decision.

  
  
"Auntie Carol," Monica says, holding up the newspaper, "I think you should give yourself a name." Monica points to a picture of Carol on the cover in full super hero getup.   
  
"Wait," Carol says, "what does that call me?"  
  
"Nuclear Woman," Monica says solemnly.  
  
"Ew."  
  
"Yeah," Monica says, "so I think you should make up your own name."  
  
"Isn't that kind of tacky?" Carol asks. People aren't supposed to give themselves nicknames. They're supposed to happen naturally. Maria rolls her eyes.  
  
"You want those paps calling you Nuclear Woman?" Maria asks, sending her a look.  
  
"Well, no." Maria rips the paper out if her hands, finds an article, and then shoves it in Carol's face.  
  
"This story is claiming we should drop the bomb on the Middle East and be done with it, because maybe the survivors would end up with powers like yours."  
  
"That's disgusting," Carol says.  
  
"It is. So I think you should set them straight about how you got your powers and give yourself a name."  
  
"Alright. Got any suggestions?"  
  
"Superwoman?" Monica suggests.  
  
"I think that's taken," Carol says. If not, she still thinks it would be lame. And that DC Comics would sue her over it.  
  
"I think you should have Captain in it," Maria says, "that way, everyone knows what a badass you are."  
  
"Because the glowing fists of flying death didn't clue them into that."  
  
"Uh huh," Maria says with a shit-eating grin.  
  
"Alright then," Carol says, "I'll be Captain."  
  
"No!" Monica says, "we need an adjective! If you're just Captain people'll get you mixed up with Captain America!"  
  
"Captain Danvers," Carol says.  
  
"No, you need to keep your name secret. Captain Wonder?"  
  
"That's a verb, sweetheart," Maria says. Monica frowns.  
  
"And it makes me sound like I don't know what I'm doing. The Captain is Wondering."  
  
"Wonderful?" Monica suggests.  
  
"We're off to see the Captain," Maria sings, voice a little off key, "The Wonderful Captain of Louisiana-"  
  
"No," Carol says firmly.  
  
"How about something about awe," Monica says.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you make people gape," Monica says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. To Monica, it probably is.  
  
"Captain Awe sounds like Captain Awful."  
  
"How about Marvel? ," Monica suggests, "that means the same thing, but it sounds better."  
  
"And that was the doc's real name," Maria says, eyes wide with epiphany.  
  
"Alright then," Carol says, "Captain Marvel it is." She kind of likes that, actually. Captain Marvel. Gender neutral and badass and it sets her apart from Captain America. It sets her apart from Captain Danvers too, which she kind of needs.  
  
She doesn't feel much like the woman that she used to be anymore. She's never going to be able to be that Captain Danvers again, but maybe she can be Captain Marvel and meet somewhere in the middle.

 

Carol falls into a routine with the best friend that she's just starting to get to know again. Somewhere along the line, routine turns to love. Maybe it's always been, maybe it hasn't. It's so hard to remember what it was like before the Kree messed around in her brain, so Carol doesn't actually know if her feelings for Maria were romantic back then.  
  
Maybe they were, maybe they weren't, but they are. And the world is changing, slowly. She's less afraid to confess her feelings in the late nineties than she would have been back in the eighties. Turns out Maria feels the same way.  
  
Not much changes, once they start sleeping together.  
  
She moves from the spare bedroom into Maria's. Monica starts thinking of Carol as her mom, even though Carol stays Auntie Carol because of tradition and to keep from confusing anyone or outing them in their rural Louisiana town.  
  
They fall into a slightly different but even better routine, and then things start to change.

  
**  
** **2003-** Monica goes to college. She plans to get a degree in engineering from Mississippi State.

  
**  
** **2004-** Massachusetts legalizes gay marriage.

  
  
"Good for them," Maria says, reading through the article in the paper, "at least Boston lesbians are getting the tax benefits."  
  
"Weren't the first lesbian marriages Boston marriages anyway?" Carol asks. She thinks she remembers something like that.  
  
"Beats me," Maria says, "it doesn't affect us." And she means it won't  _ever_ affect them A little positive change up north won't exactly trickle down south quickly.  
  
"You could move there," Monica suggests, "then you can get married. You can really be my moms."  
  
"We can't pack it up and move to Boston just to get hitched," Maria says.  
  
"But mom," Monica says, "things are better there, right? For lesbians? And little Black girls? I could probably get into a new college in Massachusetts."  
  
"They probably are, but Louisiana's our home. We can't uppin' leave." Monica sighs.  
  
"But don't you want to marry Auntie Carol?"  
  
"Auntie Carol and I can get married in the backyard like you and your teddy bear did for all I care. People'll treat it exactly the same. Doesn't matter if Boston legalized it. Folks still won't treat us right anyway." Monica frowns.  
  
"Fine." Monica says. Then, Monica drops the topic. Seeing as she drives back to college the next morning, the subject is dropped for a few years.

  
  
**2007-** Monica graduates from college and gets a job at a town an hour drive away

  
  
**2008-** Connecticut

  
  
"Wow," Carol says, "there's another one." Two whole states that think they should be able to get married. Thinking about the world she was born into, this is a dream come true. Maria laughs and grabs her hand. Then she smiles teasingly as she kisses the back of it.  
  
"Maybe Louisiana'll let us marry in the nursing home."

  
  
**2009-** Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and DC  
  
"Wow," Maria says, "the world really _is_ changing." There's a look of joy in her eyes, maybe a bit of the wonder Monica says Carol inspires in people as Captain Marvel. It's beautiful to see.

 

The governor of Maine enacts gay marriage and then the state of Maine reverses it.

  
  
"But not that much."The topic is dropped for a little while longer.

  
**  
** **2011-** New York 

  
  
"You know," Carol says, "we should start a list of states where we can get married."  
  
"So we can remember all those places that have it better than us?"  
  
"I was thinking so we can look at it and remember things are changing. Back when we were kids, they weren't even discussing it. Now it's a real issue. States are doing this." Maria smiles a little.  
  
"Alright," she says. She buys a pad of paper with a rainbow border and a magnet and pins it up on the fridge. Then she writes the names of states where they can get married.

  
**  
** **2012-** Washington, Maryland, and Maine

  
  
The world doesn't end and their little list grows by three states this year.

  
  
**2013** \- California, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota,  Hawaii, and Utah  
  
"Wow," Maria says. She adds a whole host of names to the list.  
  
"The times they are a changin," Maria sings as she writes. Monica grins.  
  
"They really are. Maybe it'll even reach us soon." Maria furrows her eyebrows.  
  
"Why is this issue getting traction so quickly, anyway? We've been fighting for civil rights god knows how long and they're still not all there." Monica grins over her coffee, sending Carol a look.  
  
"Cause white people can be gay too."  
  
"Oooohhh," Maria says, grinning at her long time girlfriend and maybe soon to be wife, "that'd make sense." She takes Carol's hand under the table.  
  
"I'd like to thank this white person for being gay." Carol bursts into laughter.  
  
They might not be getting married, but they're having a gay old time here in Louisiana.

  
**  
** **2014-** Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Colorado, West Virginia, North Carolina; Arizona, Montana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

  
  
Maria writes a name every time a state approves it.

  
  
**States where rulings upheld their bans:** Louisiana and Kansas.  

  
  
And she tears up a little when hers doesn't.  
  
"The times they are a changing, but not here in Louisiana," Maria says, tears thick in her eyes and thick in her voice.

"Maria-"   
  
"They might not even change by the time we're in the nursing home. Maybe _Monica_ won't even live to see Louisiana change." Maria has been taking this all well enough over the years, living in a home that half hates her, but this might be the straw that breaks her back. Carol takes her hands and looks into her eyes.  
  
"We don't need that paper, okay? I love you, you love me. We'll be okay." Carol leans forward, touching their foreheads together.  
  
"I love you too," Maria says. She squeezes Carol's hands, and they stand there, foreheads touching and hands together, holding each other afloat.

  
  
**2015-** Obergefell v. Hobbes- the entire United States.

  
  
"Holy shit," Maria says, her eyes widening as the news flashes across their TV.  
  
"We're getting married!" She grabs Carol by the hand, yanking her off the couch. Maria's laughing and smiling wider than she has in years and she's bouncing them around in a circle.  
  
Carol smiles right back at her.  
  
"We're getting married," she says, because that was a given. Now that they have the right they're never going to let that go.  
  
"We're fifty years old and we finally get to get married," Maria says with tears in her eyes.  
  
They rent a hall a few towns down a month later and invite their closest friends. Carol wears a black suit and Maria wears a white dress and Monica wears a blue and red dress as Maria's maid of honor. They say it's because they were both in the Air Force, but _they_ know it's a Captain Marvel thing.  
  
Fury wears a handsome black suit and a white eyepatch as Carol's best man.  
  
They've had a lot of happy days in their lives, but this might be the happiest. Carol loves her wife and her daughter and she's so happy that she finally gets to call them that.

  
**  
** **2018** \- half the life in the universe is wiped out by a single snap 

  
  
Carol doesn't know what's happening, but she watches Maria turn to ash. One moment, she's standing by the kitchen table, asking Carol to take out the trash, the next she's disintegrating. Carol looks on in horror at the pile of ash on the kitchen floor that used to be her wife. She stares on in shocked horror as she hears vibrations coming from the pile.  _Shit_

Maria had her phone in her pocket and now it's vibrating in the pile of ashes. Carol feels like she's going to puke. She can't dig through her wife's ashes to get her phone. She can't- she can't do that. 

It has to be Monica calling, though, and she knows that she needs to respond immediately. Whatever this thing is, it might be widespread. She grabs her phone off the table and dials Monica immediately. 

"Monica?" Carol asks, her voice cracking. Maria's ashes stop vibrating but Carol still hears the sound of vibrations. She doesn't dwell on what that might be,   
  
"Auntie Carol," Monica says, voice cracking, "is mom- did mom?" Monica takes a shaky breath.

"Is mom alright?" 

"No, she's not." She hears Monica sob on the other end of the line. 

"She's gone, isn't she? I can't-" Whatever Monica was going to say is cut off by the sound of her sobbing. Carol feels the sobs building within her too, and they both cry on the line, together in their grief. Monica finally hangs up after letting Carol know she was going to try to find out who of her friends survived.  
  
Carol tells her good luck, and that she loves her, and that she's going to do whatever she can to fix this. It's an empty comfort, but Monica tells her thanks before she hangs up.  
  
Then Carol finally thinks about the mystery vibrations she heard earlier. She rummages through the house, trying to find the source- the old pager she rigged up for Fury demanding her help.  
  
Fury didn't even ask for her help with New York, or the Hydra infiltration, or Sokovia. She wonders how torn apart SHIELD must be right now if he's actually asking for her help after all of these years. She grabs her phone and her pager and a bag of essentials. Then she shoots Monica a text letting her know where she's going and she flies to SHIELD. Or what's left of it.  
  
She busts down the door and finds almost no one there. There's just Captain America and some other heroes she doesn't know, which isn't a good sign.  
  
"Where's Fury?" Carol demands. Captain America bites his lip. The blonde woman opens her mouth and speaks, "The snap got him." Carol's heart sinks. Her best friend and her wife, gone in one cosmic snap. Her daughter's heart- felled. Carol doesn't know how to deal with this.  
  
"We'll find a way to save them, Captain," Captain America promises her.  
  
"Do you have any ideas?" Carol asks.  
  
"Actually," Captain America says, "we do. We just have to be patient. We can bring them back, I promise." Carol wants to believe that Captain America is right, Maybe they can find a way to bring them back. Then she'll go back to having the love of her life and the mother of her daughter instead of a Mason jar full of ashes on her bedside table and a pager that won't ever ring again.  
  
Carol just wants her wife and her best friend back. It took them so long to get to this point, together and happy and legally married. Can't they just keep that? All Carol wants is a little time with the people she loves.  
  
That's what she gave up fighting the Kree for, and Carol will do everything that she can to bring them back. She's stopped fighting for some things, but she'll never stop fighting for this. If the times don't change on this one, she'll  _make_ them. She'll rip that gaudy fucking glove off of that bastard's grape crush colored hand and shove it up his ass if that's what it takes to get her family back.   



End file.
